The first time I entered the monthly Caribbean Kigo Kukai was in April 2010, and I have only missed a few since then. In February, Gillena Cox held the CKK First Poets’ Choice awards, with 100 of the top three place haiku from kukai spanning the period from April 2009 to September 2011. I am pleased to have had the following four haiku of mine on the ballot, which together garnered 6 votes:

I’ve watched at least some part of the Olympics televised coverage every four (now two) years, ever since I was seven years old. As a kid, I think I was a bit more starry-eyed. Now, I see how biased the coverage is, how ridiculous it is to label someone a loser because they failed to achieve that elusive gold medal, and that the competition isn’t always friendly as it could be. Yet in spite of all that, I still enjoy watching the Olympics, and wrote the following haiku for the Caribbean Kigo Kukai #37, with the theme “The Olympic Games”.

The prompt this month for Caribbean Kigo Kukai #36 was “high school graduation”. The prompt was so evocative, I hardly knew where to begin. So I started with the last high school graduation I attended, several years ago, for a family friend.

The ceremony was held at a college campus, so that there would be more seating. There was dressing for the event. The long ride over. The disastrous parking situation. The long walk across campus to the auditorium. The uncomfortable seats. And the hot, stuffy room. There were many long speeches. A choral number. Students fidgeted in their heavy gowns, under the hot lights. And finally, they began calling the students up one by one, to receive their diploma covers. There were over 500 graduates that year. We were asked not to clap between students, but of course, who listened? Each student, it seemed, came with their own private cheering section. Cameras flashed, younger siblings fidgeted, and officials propped the outside doors open, in a futile attempt to create a cross draft. Row by row, student by student, the evening dragged on…

When I went to post my haiku from the May Shiki Kukai, I realized that I have written and posted quite a number of rose haiku lately, so I thought I would collect them all in one place. I guess I don’t live in the City of Roses for nothing!